Page 48 of Kortlek

She hands me a towel, and I wipe my forehead, panting slightly. My muscles will be sore tomorrow, but it feels great to finally treat my body nicely. My eyes flicker to hers, and I nod in gratitude, putting the used towel on my lap.

“Join me on the treadmill?” She offers, and I nod.

Once we start at a slower pace, she starts speaking.

“I’m assuming Cove filled you in on the Wyatt situation fully?”

I nod.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m not sure,’’ I admit. “When Arlo banished him, it took me a while to stop being suicidal and to think positively about life itself. I didn’t think I’d have to encounter him ever again. Wyatt definitely found out about what my parents do for a living, so I’m not sure if he’s stupid to try and come at me or if he has a death wish.’’

Blair changes the pace, jogging steadily, her long ponytail swishing behind her back. “While you were gone, we did a lot of research on the new gang. Arlo even contacted Aleksei Kalashnikov.’’

I raise a brow and give her a quick glance. “Cove mentioned the gang wanting Aleksei’s approval.’’

“Yes, so Arlo scheduled a meeting. Man, I’m not sure if Aleksei is hot as hell or scary as hell.’’

I laugh. “He’s definitely both.’’

The man is nearly twice my age, closer to my parents age than mine, but he’s a looker. He has a big scar going from his eye down his face and chest, but that just makes him more appealing. Their entire bloodline seems to share that dark gaze, intense and murderous.

“Anyway, the meeting went well. Aleksei reassured us that he wouldn’t even look at the gang, mainly out of respect for Hudson and Noelle, given that they worked together in the past, and that Noelle helped them back in the day.’’

I nod. “Which means that Wyatt doesn’t have many options.’’

“Well, maybe. Depending on what his goal is. If he wants to try and eliminate you, that means going against the Bratva and your family. It’s a suicide mission. But there are other bigger crime organizations that would jump to help them if it meant throwing Aleksei and Hudson off guard.’’

“It’s odd,’’ I sigh, turning off the machine. I sit down, and Blair follows suit, turning hers off and sitting down. We stare at the wall mirror in front of us, both being messy, sweaty, and red from the intense exercise.

“What is?”

“Why now?” I ask. “It’s been three years since Wyatt was banished. Why wait three years to come back? Why start with Cove? Everything that happened between Cove and me happened after the incident in the ring.’’

“Except for the past, where you confessed to Cove,’’ she adds.

A frown appears on my face. “Even that happened two years ago. It was my birthday party. How would he even know? There was no one in the room except Cove and me. And Cove definitely didn’t tell anyone because Arlo would’ve known then.’’

“Are you sure that you two were alone? You were pretty drunk.’’

I nod firmly. “I was, but Cove wasn’t. One of us was bound to see Wyatt in the room. More importantly, it was my bedroom.’’

Blair pauses, her shoulders slightly tensing. She’s silent for a couple of minutes, and I see her mind going into overdrive. Her brows narrow; she bites her lip, being deep in thought about everything.

“Back then, if my memory serves me correctly, you lived with Arlo, right?’’ She asks, and I nod. “Your birthday party was in his old apartment that we used while I was on the run from the police.’’

I nod, slowly this time. “Yes, what are you getting at?”

“That apartment wasn’t the most secure place. As I said, I was on the run from the cops, so we needed something that wouldn’t raise any eyebrows. It would’ve been easy for anyone to sneak in while we were out.’’

“Go on,’’ I urged. I’m definitely not following this conversation.

Blair turns to me and looks straight into my eyes. “I’ll be blunt. Have you ever checked your home for hidden cameras?”

I raise a brow. “You think there was a hidden camera somewhere in Arlo’s old place and that Wyatt could’ve possibly snuck into my current apartment and hid a few?”

Blair nods.

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